The Foundation Stage
The Foundation Stage is the period of education from age three to five. The Foundation Stage at Victoria Dock Primary School is made up of 2 classes, Foundation 1 and Foundation 2.
The Foundation 1 class holds two sessions each day, a morning session which is made up of older children (mainly four year olds) and an afternoon session of younger children (mainly three year olds). The Foundation 2 class is attended full time by children who are turning five during the year. There is one intake in September. Whilst the children are registered as separate Foundation 1 and Foundation 2 children, the children and staff do work closely across the Foundation Stage for the benefits of the children and their current needs.
The planning for the Foundation Stage is completed using the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, where children are working towards achieving the Early Learning Goal via stepping stones. There are six areas of development: Personal, Social and Emotional development; Communication, Language and Literacy; Mathematical Development; Knowledge and Understanding of the World; Physical Development; and Creative Development.
Children develop their understanding by playing, talking, observing, planning, experimenting, questioning, repeating, reflecting and responding to adults and each other. The children learn from a topic based approach with the topic themes changing termly.